[et_pb_section fb_built=”1″ theme_builder_area=”post_content” _builder_version=”4.27.4″ _module_preset=”default” custom_padding=”0px|||||”][et_pb_row _builder_version=”4.27.4″ _module_preset=”default” theme_builder_area=”post_content”][et_pb_column _builder_version=”4.27.4″ _module_preset=”default” type=”4_4″ theme_builder_area=”post_content”][et_pb_text _builder_version=”4.27.4″ _module_preset=”default” theme_builder_area=”post_content” hover_enabled=”0″ sticky_enabled=”0″]
After a record breaking 20-1 start to the softball season, the Gorillas did not let their first loss of the season phase them. Pitt State is now cruising on a ten-game winning streak, capped off this weekend by a pair of doubleheader sweeps over MIAA opponents Nebraska Kearney and Fort Hays State.
The Gorillas began their weekend on Friday, taking to the road to face the Nebraska Kearney Lopers in a double header. The Gorillas took game one 10-4, jumping out to a 5-0 lead in the first inning right out of the gate. The Gorillas would score three more runs in the third, followed by a pair in the seventh. The Lopers would be unable to find the scoresheet until the fourth inning.
The early start held homerun hits by senior Lexi Davis and senior Kyleigh Lamont. Lamont and junior Rachael Schlotter collected sacrifice flies in the third before senior Heather Arnett singled home junior Haili Igou to push the lead up to 8-0. Davis, Lamont and Schlotter each finished with three runs driven in, Igou led the team with three runs scored and Arnett went 3-of-4 with a stolen base, run scored and RBI. In the circle, sophomore Lexi Franklin picked up the win with 5.0 innings of work as senior Sailor Hall pitched the final 2.0 innings.
Pitt State would be even more dominant in the second game of the day, as they cruised to a 13-2 five-inning victory over Nebraska Kearney. The Gorillas would score a pair of runs in both of the first two innings, before exploding in the fourth with nine runs. The Lopers would put up a single run in the last two innings.
Davis started off the scoring in the game with a first inning two-run home run, her second against UNK. Arnett scored Schlotter and Igou in the second off a double to provide the early 4-0 lead after two innings. Igou hit a two-run home run to begin the scoring in the fourth inning as senior Alleyna Rushing, graduate student Kadyn Trochim, Hall, junior Bailey Haselhorst and junior Trista Peterson collecting RBI hits in the inning.
Saturday saw the Gorillas hosting the Fort Hays State Tigers. Pitt State would go on to dominate the Tigers, winning the first game 11-2 in just six innings. Things would be knotted up at one apiece until the third inning, when the Gorillas exploded for six runs. Pitt State would tack on four more runs, two apiece in the fourth and sixth innings, as they won. Arnett, Rushing, Davis, Igou and Lamont each collected a pair of hits with Arnett, Davis and Hall scoring twice. Emma Crabb in the circle, struck out five in a complete game win.
Pitt State would turn around and deliver another big win almost immediately, defeating the Tigers a second time to the tune of 16-1 in just five innings. The Gorillas scored eight runs in the second inning, taking an 11-1 lead after four, and tacking on five runs in the fifth for good measure.
Arnett finished the game going 3-of-5 with two runs scored and two RBI. Trochim led the team with three runs driven in as six Gorillas collected multiple RBI on the game. Seven Gorillas scored twice in the game with the team collecting a school record nine doubles in the contest. Franklin picked up her seventh win of the season with a complete game effort in the circle.
The Gorillas will take the mound again this weekend, when they will host Emporia State and Washburn State during another weekend of on-the-road double headers.
[/et_pb_text][/et_pb_column][/et_pb_row][/et_pb_section]
psucollegio 